1. Tactics & Battles During World War I
How and where were the major battles of World War I fought?

2. I. Schlieffen Plan (Shlee-fun)
A. Germany developed the Schlieffen Plan to avoid fighting on two fronts
1) Attack and defeat France first on the western front
a. Reason: Already beaten France before (Franco-Prussian War)
2) Attack Russia later on the eastern front
b. Reason: Russia not able to mobilize troops & supply them due to slow industrialization (few railroads, factories), A-H can hold them off
B. Germans want to enter Belgium to get to France, Belgians say no so Germany invades neutral Belgium
1. British upset & enter war. Germans are within a few miles of Paris

3. II. Western Front – Battle of the Marne
A. Allies regroup and counterattack Germany NE of Paris in the Marne River Valley
1. When more soldiers were needed, 600 taxicabs rushed soldiers from Paris to the fighting front
a. Four days later, Germans retreat
2. Battle of Marne is significant because Germans now realize that the Schlieffen Plan will not work – no quick & easy victory in France!
German troops near Paris
Taxis rush soldiers to the front

4. III. The Western Front – Trench Warfare
A. After the Battle of Marne, each side began to dig a series of trenches in Northern France
B. Soldiers fought, lived & slept in the trenches and dealt with artillery fire, rats, lice, disease, smell, contamination, boredom and mud
Trench life stinks, time to dream mud

5. IV. Bloody Stalemates – Verdun & Battle of the Somme (1916)
A. “No Man’s Land” was the space above and in between the trenches. It was filled with barbed wire and land mines
B. New weapons technology results in little territory gained and huge loss of life turning these battles into bloody stalemates
1. During the Battle of Verdun, each side lost 300K (9mos)
C. The bloodiest was the Battle of the Somme, 20K killed in one day & overall 600K wounded/killed for the Allies and 450K for CP (4mos)
D. Christmas truce: December 1914 each side stopped fighting for one day and came out of the trenches to celebrate the holidays together

6. V. The Eastern Front
Fighting starts in late August 1914 when Russia attacks C Powers
Germany counterattacks in the Battle of Tannenberg forcing Russia to retreat - 30,000 Russian soldiers are killed
Russia winning vs A-H, so Germans & Ottomans cut off Russia’s supply lines (Black Sea)
Due to lack of supplies/clothing – many soldiers freeze to death on the “frozen front”
Russia’s only advantage was a large population allowing them to constantly “rebuild” their army
1915: Czar Nicholas II decides to take personal command of the troops, worsening the war for Russia